
C!ass...'£N.A - j^ 

Book- .3& 3 

GopightH?. 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




REV. MALTBIE D. BARCOCK, I). D, 



Three Whys 

and Their Answer 

By 

Maltbie D. Babcock, D. D. 




United Society of Christian Endeavor 
Boston and Chicago 

V » 



TH€ ' SBARY OF 
ss Received 

DEC. 10 190? 

QOFV SIGHT ENTRY 

CLASS XXc, No. 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1901, 
by the 

United Society of Cheistian Endeavor 



Plimpton press 

H. U. rUMPTON & CO., PRINTERS & BINDERS,. 
NORWOOD, MASS., U.S.A. 



CONTENTS 

CHAP, PAGE 

I. Why Should I be a Cheistian ? 5 

II. Why Should a Cheistian Join the Chuech ? 13 

III. Why Should we Speak foe Cheist ? .... 23 



Three Whys 



And Their Answer 



WHY SHOULD I BE A CHEISTIAN ? 



HERE is no reason why I should not 
be a Christian, and every reason 
why I should be a Christian. I live 
in certain relations to God, to peo- 
ple, and to myself. Some of the time I may 
get away from people ; but I can never 
escape from God ; I can never escape from 
myself. Then the most natural and im- 
perial demand of my conscience is that I 
should be in right relations and on the best 
terms with people, with God, and with my- 
self. 

5 



6 



THREE WHYS 



But how am I to know what are the right 
relations, what kind of life is best ? Take 
the best you know till you find a better. 
The only failure in life is not to be true to 
the best you know. 

Then I must be a Christian. There is no 
one better than Jesus Christ. There is no 
standard higher than his. Men not in sym- 
pathy with Jesus have yet been obliged to 
confess that he stands alone, supreme, in- 
comparable. They said long ago, "I find 
no fault in him ; " " Never man spake like 
this man ; " " Truly this man is the Son of 
God." In our day men have said, " Higher 
than Jesus human thought has never gone ; " 
" Whatever the surprises of the future may 
be, Jesus Christ will never be surpassed." 
Eichard "Watson Gilder has shown us that 
there is no dilemma even for the man who 
has doubts of the divinity of Jesus Christ. 
If he is honest and earnest, he must follow 
him anyway. 

"If Jesus Christ is a man 
And only a man, I say 
That of all mankind I cleave to him, 
And to him will I cleave alway. 



WHY SHOULD I BE A CHRISTIAN? 7 

" If Jesus Christ is God, 

And the only God, I swear 
I will follow him through heaven and hell, 
The earth, the sea, and the air. ' 1 

Peter's question, " Lord, to whom shall we 
go?" is unanswered and unanswerable. 
Every now and then some one sings the 
praises of Buddhism or Zoroastrianism or 
Stoicism, but does any one think it would be 
a step forward to take up a religion of no 
God, or two gods, or many gods ? Chris- 
tianity has the gentleness of the Buddhist, 
the virtue of the Zoroastrian, the love of 
beauty of the Greek, but without the defects 
which have carried two of the systems to 
the grave, and will bury the third also. 

As a philosophy, a teaching of truth con- 
cerning God and man, life, providence, char- 
acter, death, Christianity is matchless. The 
best modern movements of thought and 
action, like altruism and ethical culture, are 
children of Christianity, and cannot live far 
from home. One of the most acute of mod- 
ern philosophers, no particular friend of 
Christianity, said that the best way to turn 
religion from the abstract to the concrete 



8 



THREE WHYS 



was to live so that Jesus Christ would ap- 
prove our life. 

Am I a Christian if I believe this ? Not 
necessarily. I may know what is right and 
not do it ; I may see the truth and not live 
by it ; I may recognize Christ and yet re- 
fuse him. But that is moral degradation; 
that is spiritual suicide. There is no peril 
so great as his who has light and turns his 
back upon it, who sees Jesus Christ and 
chooses Barabbas. To live in a Christian 
land, to go to a Christian church, to come of 
a Christian family, and not be a Christian, is 
to be in the worst kind of danger. Jesus 
said it would be better in the day of judg- 
ment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the 
men of Capernaum, who knew him, but 
would not obey him. Do not put yourself 
in such condemnation ! 

In justice to God, in justice to the world 
that needs Christians supremely, in justice 
and kindness to yourself, give yourself 
heartily to Jesus Christ, and walk in his 
light, and live his life with his help as best 
you can. 

Look up to God, and ask yourself whether 



WHY SHOULD I BE A CHRISTIAN? 9 

you can do less. God loves you, and has 
proved his love and forgiveness past doubt- 
ing at Calvary. How can you reject that 
forgiving love by not accepting it in Jesus 
Christ? You are not refusing the justice 
of God. That is not in your power. You 
are refusing the love of God. Jesus said the 
sin of which the Spirit of God would con- 
vict the world was "because they believe 
not on me." "This is the condemnation, 
that light is come into the world, and men 
loved darkness rather than light." But 
" there is no condemnation to them that are 
in Christ." Look up to God and thank him 
for his love. Thank him by accepting " his 
unspeakable gift," by giving yourself to him. 
You owe God the joy of having his love ac- 
cepted and answered. 

Look out into the world. What does it 
need so much for its sin and trouble and 
strife, misunderstanding and hopelessness, 
as the spirit of Christ's brotherhood ? The 
light and hope of the world is the kind of 
life Jesus led. Be one of his brothers. See 
him in little children, in the sick and dis- 
couraged, in the prisoner, in the poor, in the 



10 



THREE WHYS 



overworked and underpaid, in any one you 
can help. The world needs some one like 
you to show right where you live how to be 
loyal to duty, victorious in temptation, brave 
in trial, loving in every human relation. 
You owe it to the society in which you live, 
and which has given you your opportunities, 
that it should have your best life in Christ 
for its upbuilding and purifying. " Ye are 
the light of the world ; " " ye are the salt of 
the earth." You owe it to your fellow men 
to live Christ's life among them and for 
them. 

Look into your own heart. You know 
you must be yourself forever. Can you save 
your self-respect, your conscience, your 
character, yourself, when you know that 
you are untrue to the best, when you are 
living a life of unbelief and disobedience 
and self-indulgence? Tendencies petrify; 
character crystallizes. Every choice away 
from God hardens your heart. 

' ' Forever round the mercy-seat 

The guiding lights of love may burn 
But what if, habit-bound, thy feet 
Should lack the will to turn ? " 



WHY SHOULD I BE A CHRISTIAN? 11 

You have Christ's word for it that, if you 
are not for him, you are against him. Can 
you let another day steal away its share of 
what interest you have to-day, what protest 
of conscience, what sense of sin, what long- 
ing to be better, what prodigal's homesick- 
ness ? Turn your face to your Saviour now. 
Give yourself to him now and forever. Let 
nothing prevent you. 

Matthew did not know much about Jesus, 
but he heard the words, " Follow me," and 
he began to follow. Peter was impulsive 
and over-confident ; Thomas was a natural- 
born doubter; James and John had fiery 
tempers ; but they followed Jesus, and 
gradually knew him better, and through 
him got the victory over themselves. You 
owe it to yourself to be your best self in 
Christ's name, to be Israel, not Jacob; 
Peter, not Simon; Paul, not Saul. Jesus 
Christ by his Spirit to-day can give you vic- 
tory over your besetting sins, can make self- 
development and self-devotion follow self- 
mastery, and at last give you a new name as 
a gift and secret of love to him that over- 
cometh. 



12 



THREE WHYS 



Do you say now, " I give myself to thee, 
my Saviour " ? Hear his words : " And him 
that corneth to me I will in no wise cast 
out." 

And didst thou leave thy home above 

To tell me of my Father's love, 

To give eternal life to me, — 

And can my heart say, " No " to thee ? 

And didst thon go to Calvary, 
And suffer there, O Lord, for me, 
Dying that thou mightst set me free, — 
And can I turn away from thee ? 

And dost thou wait with hands outstretched 
To me, with endless doubtings vexed, 
With sins and fears and cares oppressed, — 
And can I spurn thy promised rest ? 

And dost thou say, if I neglect, 
If I thy dying love reject, 
That I thy glory shall not see, — 
And dare I turn my back on thee ? 

I cannot, dare not, thus refuse ; 
Thee for my Saviour now I choose ; 
And since, Lord, thou hast died for me. 
Help me in love to live for thee. 



II 



WHY SHOULD A CHRISTIAN JOIN THE 
CHURCH ? 

F you are a follower of Jesus Christ, 
there is no reason why you should 
not join the church, and every reason 
why you should. If you have not 
joined yourself in faith and fidelity to your 
Saviour, under no consideration join the 
church. If, as you know your own heart, 
you cannot say, " I know whom I have be- 
lieved, and he knows that I have given my- 
self to him forever," then do not deny him 
by confessing him. But if you do trust him, 
and are trying to be true to him, then do 
not deny him by not confessing him. How 
can you refuse, if you are his, to acknowl- 
edge him as your Saviour, to enter his school 
as a disciple, to enlist under his banner as a 
soldier of the cross, to come to his table as 
a child at home ? 

13 




14 



THREE WHYS 



You would not have your Christian hope 
at all to-day if others had done as you are 
doing. Your knowledge of Christ, every 
Christian influence that blesses you, has 
come through the church. But there would 
have been no church if Christians had not 
confessed Christ by calling themselves by 
his name, banding themselves together for 
Christian worship and education and work. 
If it is right for you to-day to cherish a se- 
cret hope in Christ and not publicly confess 
him, then you must admit that it is right for 
some one else to do so. What, then, becomes 
of the church if others should follow your 
example ? 

You are robbing the church of the help you 
owe it. The church was a body because 
those who first trusted Christ joined them- 
selves as members of a body to him as their 
head ; and it exists to-day because those who 
trust Christ still unite themselves to him in 
public loyalty as well as personal love. Paul 
put it plainly when he said that the Mace- 
donian Christians "first gave their own 
selves to the Lord, and to us by the will of 
God," first joining the Lord, and then the 



WHY JOIN THE CHURCH? 15 

Lord's. So the thousands on the day of 
Pentecost confessed their Saviour by being 
baptized, and were added visibly to the 
church. So did the jailer at Philippi and 
the Ethiopian, Lydia and her family, Ste- 
phanas and his household. Do you think 
that, if they were living to-day, they would 
hesitate about joining the church of their 
God and Saviour ? How is it that you can 
know in your heart that you are forgiven 
and made an heir of God, and yet, by not 
joining the church, say as plainly as words 
could put it, "I do not care whether the 
church of Christ survives " ? Are you not 
robbing the church when you receive from 
it your Christian faith and hope, and will 
not set yourself as a living stone in its walls, 
and do your best to perpetuate and strengthen 
it? 

You are rolling the Lord if you live a life 
better, purer, stronger, because of his help, 
and yet will not acknowledge by public con- 
fession that he is your helper. By as much 
as your life through Christ's help is better 
than the life of others, you are keeping from 
him the glory due to his name, by refusing 



16 



THREE WHYS 



to join his church. He founded the church, 
which he purchased with his blood, to be the 
" pillar and ground of the truth," a reservoir 
and channel of blessing, your spiritual 
mother and nurse and teacher ; so that not 
to belong to the church is to rob not merely 
the church, but Christ himself. It is his 
household of faith, his body, his bride. He 
has identified himself with it in such won- 
derful intimacy that, when Saul struck at 
the church, Jesus said, "Why persecutest 
thou me ? " There is no escaping the fact 
that, when you withhold your public alle- 
giance from the church of Christ, your name 
from its roll-call, your loyalty and sympathy 
and interest and strength from its service, 
you are robbing the Eedeemer of the church. 
It is the church of Christ, and bears his 
name in the world, and what you do to the 
church is done to Christ, and what you re- 
fuse the church you refuse Christ. 

Let men see you living Christ's kind of 
life outside the church, and they will con- 
clude that a man can be a good Christian and 
not belong to the church. Why should they 
join it when you do not think it necessary ? 



WHY JOIN THE CHURCH? 17 

The church, like the Bible, is in many- 
parts and ways divided, yet one ; with dif- 
ferent denominations, yet called by one su- 
preme name. No one denomination may 
suit you perfectly. (The reverse is also 
true.) Choose the one that on the whole 
best represents Christ to you, in which you 
can best worship him and work for him ; and 
as a member of that church make it more 
Christlike and the name of Christ more win- 
some and glorious because you bear it. De- 
votion to the church is loyalty to its Head, 
and neglect of the church is disloyalty to its 
Head. You rob not the church alone by 
not belonging to it, but the Saviour him- 
self. 

And how much you are rolling yourself 
of peace and power, you never will know 
till you confess your Saviour as he has bid- 
den you. A duty undone, like a sin uncon- 
fessed, as David said, turns dew to drought. 
It is not for our sake, but for the child's sake, 
that we say, when a gift is received without 
a word, " And what do you say ? " Even 
the poor woman in the crowd, sensitive and 
shy, the Lord would not let go away till she 



IS 



THREE WHYS 



had made her acknowledgment. She never 
could have "gone in peace" if her blessing 
had been half stolen. Let your own sense 
of unrest and unhappiness tell you that the 
"redeemed of the Lord" are expected to 
" say so," and that he who will not con- 
fess his Saviour neither shall he enjoy 
him. 

And as for power, believe me, there is 
nothing for it like commitment. Let a boy 
go to college, and hesitate to fly his flag as 
a Christian and let the men know where he 
stands, and he is ten times more liable to be 
tempted and to yield. It is an immense 
safeguard to be classified. A Hindoo mer- 
chant ran up a flag with the words on it, 
"For Christ." It may have increased his 
persecution, but it diminished his tempta- 
tion. Every college pin, Mason's symbol, 
political badge, national flag, proves the 
strength of inward agreement and out- 
ward acknowledgment. Fly your flag for 
your Captain. You will have a happier 
heart and a stronger arm. Do not rob the 
church of the loyalty you owe it, nor your 
Lord of the honor that belongs to him, nor 



WHY JOIN THE CHURCH? 19 



yourself of the peace and power that await 
confession of your Lord. 

As for excuses, they are only explanations 
of the circumstances under which we did not 
do our duty. There is no excuse for a Chris- 
tian's not doing what his Lord commands. 
Wellington told an officer to do something, 
and, when the answer came, " It is impossi- 
ble," replied, " I did not ask for your opin- 
ion, but your obedience." Let us remember 
this : Jesus Christ our Lord does not ask for 
our opinions, but our obedience. How long 
would our excuses last in his presence ? 
What do they really amount to before the 
bar of our sober judgment ? 

"There are inconsistent and even hypo- 
critical church members." "What is that 
to thee ? Follow thou me." Nowhere do 
we allow the abuse of life, health, truth, 
language, business interests, anything, to 
destroy our confidence in their right use. A 
counterfeit dollar is the tribute paid to a 
good one. Join the church and set a good 
example. Try to be John, no matter who 
is Judas. 

" I am not good enough." But what is 



20 



THREE WHYS 



the church for but to help you to be good ? 
You are not saved by your goodness, but by 
Jesus Christ and his love. Your intention 
and attempt to obey and serve him are the 
effect, not the cause, of your salvation. 
The church is to help you to know him bet- 
ter, and to be more like him. Do you really 
want to be good ? Then you are good 
enough to enter the church. You might as 
well say you do not know enough to go to 
school, or are not strong enough to go to a 
gymnasium, or cannot swim well enough to 
learn to swim ! The church and all its ser- 
vices, like the Bible, are meant to help you to 
be good. 

" But I do not understand the doctrine of 
the church." You are not asked to as a be- 
ginner, nor compelled to at any time. Jesus 
did not say, " It is the way," but, " I am the 
way, the truth, and the life." I — not any 
creed, any symbol or confession — " I am the 
door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall 
be saved." And Paul said, " I know whom 
I have believed." If you know Christ as 
your Saviour, you have eternal life, and have 
a right to enter through the gate into the 



WHY JOIN THE CHURCH? 21 



heavenly city. How much more have you 
the right to enter the school, the family, the 
church, of the Christian beginners here on 
earth ! 

" I might dishonor my Lord." Yes, and 
no one is more wanted in the church than 
the one who really dreads doing this. No 
one is expected to accomplish perfection, but 
to attempt it ; and no one would walk or 
talk or dare enter any business or profession 
if he did not mean through mistakes to learn 
not to make them. " I write unto you that 
ye sin not ; " and that we make our fixed 
purpose. " But, if any man sin, we have an 
Advocate ; " and so we have God's pity and 
help and restoration. 

" I will sometime." To-day is some time, 
and the only real time. Eesolve now that 
you will unite with the church the next 
communion. "To-morrow is the road to 
never." No decision was ever made to-mor- 
row. There is no such day. What you ever 
did was done in a to-day. If you are trust- 
ing Christ to-day as your Saviour, trying to 
please him to-day as your Master, resolve 
to-day that at your first opportunity you 



22 THREE WHYS 

will be true to him by confessing him before 
his people, and obeying the command that / 
calls you to his table, " This do in remem- 
brance of me." 



Ill 



WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK FOR CHRIST? 

HIS question follows two others, 
" Why should I become a Chris- 
tian?" and, "Why should I be- 
come a member of the church ? " 
But it seems to be a question practically 
answered at the start. If I have become a 
Christian and confessed my Saviour, can I 
be natural, be like myself in every other 
relation of life, if I never speak of my 
Saviour ? What does not concern me or 
interest me, I naturally and sensibly keep 
still about ; and, if Jesus Christ were noth- 
ing to me, or if he troubled my conscience 
and I did not want to admit it, there would 
be nothing strange about my silence. But, 
if I really believe that he is my Saviour, 
that he has brought me God's forgiveness, 
driven away my ignorance and fears, helped 

23 




24 



THREE WHYS 



me to conquer sin, given me clear views of 
the meaning of this life and glorious hopes 
for the life to come, and yet I never say a 
word about him to any one, is it not most 
unnatural ? 

I admit there is no matter harder to speak 
about than our inmost religious experience. 
There are ways of speaking that seem like 
professions of superior virtue, and we feel 
that silence is one with humility ; that it is 
better to live our convictions than to speak 
of them ; that, if there is anything good 
about us, we are not the people to announce 
it. But this is talking about ourselves, not 
speaking of Christ — quite another matter. 
Speaking of Christ is consistent with all 
humility and tender and delicate feeling. 

It is supremely natural. Out of the ful- 
ness of the heart the mouth speaks. We 
naturally speak of that which interests us. 
So true is this that silence suggests un- 
reality. Of course it would not be natural 
for us to speak of our Saviour to everybody, 
nor to talk about him much of the time ; 
but not to speak to anybody of anything 
that Jesus Christ has been to us is so un- 



WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK FOE CHRIST? 25 

natural as to imply that he has been noth- 
ing to us at all. 

Could the fishermen of Galilee have had 
their lives brightened and blessed by the 
friendship of Jesus, and never have said a 
word about him to any one? Could the 
blind have had their eyes opened, the deaf 
have recovered their hearing, and lepers 
have been made clean, and never have 
spoken of him who made life beautiful to 
them? And what of Paul? Can you 
imagine him saying never a word about the 
One who so turned his life about from rest- 
lessness to peace, from unhappiness to glad- 
ness ? All that can be said about natural 
reticence applied as much to those people as 
to us, but it would have been most unnat- 
ural reticence if they had been silent. It 
would have been rightly inferred that un- 
reality, not reality, was at the root of such 
silence. 

Peter and John said, "We cannot but 
speak the things which we have seen and 
heard." What lay back of that word " can- 
not " ? Their gladness to have had such a 
friend as Jesus, their experience of his 



26 



THREE WHYS 



power, and their human, brotherly concern 
that other men should know such a Saviour, 
and such new hope and joy and power. For 
them never to have spoken of Christ would 
have been most unnatural, to say the least, 
and we should have had good reason to con- 
clude that there was little or no friendship, 
after all, between them and Jesus Christ. 

But their silence would have been more 
than unnatural; it would have been ab- 
solutely disloyal. The Lord told his dis- 
ciples that they were to be his witnesses. 
Jesus did not distribute books. He trained 
followers. He did not write, but he taught 
for publication. The goodness he brought 
was not to be seen on the pages of a book, 
but read in the lives and heard from the 
lips of his friends. " Ye shall be witnesses 
for me." 

What is a witness ? One who knows, and 
tells what he knows. " Testimonials " is a 
word that has been much abused, but it 
represents everywhere the beginnings of 
human interest. Testimony calls attention 
to something. It makes people look in a 
new direction. It sets them thinking and 



WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK FOB CHRIST? 27 

experimenting. We speak of a new book 
or a new doctor, a new kind of camera or a 
pleasant place to go in summer, and we are 
witnessing, speaking of something that in- 
terests us; and our friends get interested 
and investigate for themselves. 

This is perfectly natural. "We do it doz- 
ens of times a day, bear witness or receive 
witness, testify or hear testimony. Because 
this is so natural, Jesus Christ makes it his 
chosen way of extending his kingdom. 
" Come and see " ; know for yourself ; then 
"go and tell"; your knowledge is for 
others. 

The Gospel of John is full of witnessing. 
Jesus said he came himself to tell us what 
he knew, to bear witness of the Father, of 
the truth, of eternal life. John the Baptist 
pointed to Jesus. John and Andrew and 
Philip said, " We have found ; come and 
see." The Samaritan woman said, "Come 
and see," and her friends came, and after- 
wards said, " Now we know for ourselves." 
The blind man told what he knew of Jesus 
Christ. Jesus said to Mary, " Cling not to 
me, but go and tell," and associated all his 



THREE WHYS 



disciples in infinite dignity with the Spirit 
of truth when he said, " He shall testify of 
me, and ye also shall bear witness." 

It is clear, then, as noonday that our Mas- 
ter expects his followers to speak to others 
about him. " Go ye into all the world, and 
tell of your Lord's salvation," ranges from 
the word of a friend to a friend — Philip's to 
Xathanael, or a woman's to her neighbors, 
like the Samaritan's — to the missionary's 
message carried to the ends of the earth at 
the risk of his life. The church has always 
grown " through the living voice," as Papias 
said. We are of all men most unnatural if 
we do not speak of him who is our Friend 
beyond all others, and we are of all serv- 
ants most disloyal and disobedient. 

It certainly is not always speaking of him 
by name. It may often be speaking in his 
spirit, talking of life and people and events 
in his way. When we are bidden to " do 
all things in the name of the Lord J esus," 
it does not mean that we are to speak the 
name of Christ every time we do anything, 
but we are to make his name our motive, 
and what his name stands for, the measure 



WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK FOB CHRIST? 29 

and standard of our life. So no small part 
of witnessing for Christ is speaking as he 
would, as he did. The book of Esther does 
not mention God by name, but it is a wit- 
ness for God, for it shows his thoughtful 
and powerful protection. The most Chris- 
tian preaching is not always that which 
uses the name of Christ most frequently. 

Whenever you speak of God's fatherly 
care and goodness, of his forgiving love, of 
the life of sonship he wishes us to live to- 
wards him and of brotherhood towards one 
another, you are speaking Christ's message, 
though you may not always have used his 
name. To say, "Thank God," instead of 
talking about luck and fortune and stars 
and chance ; to say about your future plans, 
" If the Lord wills " or " God willing " ; to 
speak of any evidence of Christ's spirit, of 
his triumph, that we see in literature, or 
government policy, or the lives of men ; to 
refer to a book or a speech or a sermon as it 
counts for or against all that Christ stands 
for ; to rebuke a wrong or signalize the 
right as he would do ; to confess our faults 
to one another, speaking of the hatred of 



30 



THREE WHYS 



our own weakness and sinfulness, and our 
desire to live more worthily of our Lord ; to 
judge gently the faults of others, and be 
quick and gracious to forgive ; to talk away 
from gossip and slander, and against it if 
necessary ; to speak of the good we see in 
others, and to try to draw it out; this, 
whether we always speak of our Lord by 
name or not, is part of our Christian wit- 
nessing. This is conversation that is to the 
glory of God, that is according to the name 
of the Lord Jesus, a true witness to what 
that name means. 

"Whenever we as Christians speak to one 
another of our Saviour, we are witnessing 
for him. To utter his name in conversation 
with one another may seem but a slight 
confession of him, but it is a real one. Why 
should we hesitate to speak to one another 
of him and of distinctively Christian things ? 
We speak of hundreds of trifles, of things 
that interest us but for the moment. Why 
should we not leave the shallows, and 
launch out into the deeps? Those deeps 
belong to us. Why should we fear to ex- 
plore them ? We have the weather in com- 



WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK FOE CHRIST? 31 



mon, and what we eat and drink and wear, 
and the latest news in the papers, and what 
our neighbors are doing ; but why should 
we belittle and impoverish our lives by talk- 
ing only of such things ? Things that are 
pure and of good report we are told to 
think on ; why should we not excite new 
thoughts, and clearer and happier, by speak- 
ing of them ? 

Because it would seem strange is a good 
reason for beginning. The strange is good 
for us where the commonplace reigns. But 
Christian conversation will not seem strange 
when we get used to it. Let us cultivate it 
with one another. Let us not be shy and 
timid about speaking of the realities. Talk- 
ing of Christian things builds up Christian 
fellowship. Malachi said that those who 
feared the Lord spake often one to another, 
and the Lord put their names in a book of 
remembrance. Jesus said he would confess 
before his Father in heaven those who con- 
fessed his name on earth. Is not a Christ- 
less conversation a real denial of Christ, 
and sure to find its place in a book of for- 
getf ulness ? 



32 



THREE WHYS 



And, unless we come to speak naturally 
with each other about our Lord and Chris- 
tian things, how are we going to speak to 
people who do not know him, and who care 
for none of these things ? " Ye shall be 
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in 
all Judsea and in Samaria, and unto the ut- 
termost part of the earth." There are our 
Master's orders. If we do not learn to speak 
of his name and what he stands for to our 
friends in Jerusalem and Judgea, how shall 
we know how to witness to the Samaritans 
and outsiders ? The early Christians must 
have spoken often with one another about 
the comfort and joy of their Christian life, 
about their temptations and discourage- 
ments, their blessings and their duties. 
How else would their faith have been 
strong, their hearts full, their tongues ready 
to speak of their Lord to unbelievers ? 

The early church grew by cellular growth, 
one individual touching another. It was 
the contagion of Christian contact. One 
Philip found Nathanael at home, and an- 
other Philip found the Ethiopian in the des- 
ert. Each knew, and told what he knew, 



WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK FOB CHRIST? 33 



and through them these men became Christ's 
followers. "Would you have spoken of Christ 
to these men, a neighbor, a stranger, if the 
opportunity had come to you ? Would you 
have hesitated? Would you even have 
thought of it ? The early church grew with 
such rapidity because Christians did think 
and did not hesitate. The apostles could 
not possibly have won the world by preach- 
ing, any more than a battle could be won 
by generals. It was the rank and file who 
did the work. " They slew every man his 
man." Every one who knew Christ was in- 
terested in the one who did not. With 
what leaps and bounds would the church 
advance to-day if every one who knows 
Christ would think about some one who 
does not, would really care, would pray, 
would plan ! The right kind of witnessing 
would be bound to come. 

It is, after all, a question of caring. What 
we really care about we in some way find 
our chance to speak about. The man with 
some business project, with a story to tell, 
with a piece of news, with a favor to ask, 
sooner or later manages to introduce the 



L.of C. 



34 



THREE WHYS 



subject. He cares. Paul cared. He could 
not be a Christian alone. He must divide. 
He must tell others of what Christ could do. 
So he studied the Jew, the Greek, the bar- 
barian, the weak man, the strong man, to 
see how he could best interest him in Jesus 
Christ. 

We can express ourselves. We have in- 
genuity and imagination and opportunities. 
There are certainly plenty of people who are 
weak and unhappy and practically useless 
because they are Christless. They may 
seem indifferent, but how do you know they 
are so? Why should you not tell them 
what you know? Why not run the risk of 
helping them? You can study the situa- 
tion. Tou can care. Then, you can ask 
God to guide you, and watch for your 
chance. A book, an invitation, a letter, an 
expression of personal interest, something 
of what has come to you through your 
Saviour, a change you have noticed in the 
life of another, may be your tap at the 
heart's door. 

If it should happen that sometime the 
door does not open to you, you have only 



WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK FOB CHRIST? 35 



had the experience that came to your Sa- 
viour, that came to Paul. Jesus said that, 
if they do not receive you, your message of 
peace comes back into your own heart. 
You have done the loving thing, and are 
the stronger for it, with new sympathy 
with your Saviour. Paul said he tried to 
adapt himself to everybody that he might 
save somebody, not everybody. 

"Success" is not the word that Jesus 
uses, but "fidelity." Are we faithful in the 
matter in the sight of our Lord ? Do we 
watch for chances to witness ? Are we 
ready when the time comes ? Do we dare ? 
Do we really care ? " Ye shall be witnesses 
unto me." Can we be obedient Christians 
if we are not witnessing, if we are afraid or 
ashamed to " speak a good word for Jesus 
Christ"? 

" Am I a soldier of the cross, 
A follower of the Lamb, 
And shall I fear to own his cause, 
Or blush to speak his name ? ' 1 

Can you be reconciled to a starless crown, 
that you should be in heaven by the grace 
of your Lord and no one else be there be- 



36 



THREE WHYS 



cause of your sympathy and thought and 
love ? Will you not resolve now as you 
read that you will acknowledge your Lord 
wherever and whenever it is the natural, 
loyal, loving thing to do ; that you will 
watch for chances to be his " faithful wit- 
ness" with the tact, the gentleness, the 
truth, the love, which he will give you ? 



Recent Religious Books 



The Secret of a Happy Day 

By Rev. J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D.D. 

63-4x4 1-2 inches ; 103 pages ; bound in cloth. An excellent 
half-tone portrait of Dr. Chapman forms the frontispiece. 
Price, 50 cents. 

The " Daily Quiet Hours " at the Detroit Christian Endeavor Con- 
vention were the most remarkable meetings of that great gathering. 
The addresses given by Dr. Chapman at that time have now been di- 
vided into thirty-one chapters, — one for each day of the month — and 
are included in this volume. The first edition of the book was sold out 
upon the day of publication. A new edition is now ready. The chap- 
ters of the book are based upon the wonderful twenty-third psalm. 

The Spiritual Life of the Sunday-School 

By Rev. J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D.D. 
6-34x41-2 inches, 62 pages ; bound in cloth, 35 cents. 

These articles were originally printed in the Sunday-School Times. 
There was such a demand for them that Dr. Chapman has now con- 
sented to put them into this permanent form. The book presents very 
clearly the duties and opportunities of both officers and teachers, and 
gives some suggestive helps on the preparation necessary for personal 
work. 

The Surrendered Life 

By Rev. J. WILBUR CHAPMAN, D.D. 

63-4x41-2 inches ; 70 pages ; bound in cloth ; 50 cents. 

This little volume sets forth clearly, simply, and winningly the life 
" hid with Christ in God," and the way to enter into it. The tasteful 
binding forms a most fit setting for the contents. 



UNITED SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR 

Boston and Chicago 



Our Workers' Library 



Helpful Books for Christian Workers 



Only 35 cents each, postpaid. 



The Officers Handbook. _ By Amos R. Wells. 143 pages devoted 
to the work of the various officers of young people's societies. 
Special chapters devoted to parliamentary law, reception of new 
members, etc. 

The Missionary Manual. By Amos R. Wells. The most com- 
plete hand-book of methods for missionary work in young people's 
societies ever published. 134 pages. 

Fuel for Missionary Fires. By Belle M. Brain. 115 pages of 
practical plans for missionary committees. Everything tried and 
proved. 

Prayer-Meeting Methods. By Amos R. Wells. This book con- 
tains by far the most comprehensive collection of prayer-meeting 
plans ever made. 

Social Evenings. By Amos R. Wells. This is the most widely 
used collection of games and social entertainments ever made. 

Social to Save. By Amos R. Wells. A companion volume to 
" Social Evenings." A mine of enjoyment for the society and 
home circle. 

Our Unions. By Amos R. Wells. Wholly devoted to Christian 
Endeavor unions of all kinds, their officers, work, and conventions. 

Weapons for Temperance Warfare. By Belle M. Brain. Full 
of ammunition for temperance meetings. Hundreds of facts, il- 
lustrations, suggestions, programmes. 

Next Steps. By Rev. W. F. McCauley. A book for every Chris- 
tian Endeavor worker. It is a storehouse of suggestions. 

Citizens in Training. f By Amos R. Wells. A complete manual 
of Christian Citizenship, written especially for those that desire to 
make their country better. 

Eighty Pleasant Evenings. A book of social entertainments, in- 
tended for young people's societies, church workers, temperance 
unions, and for individual use. 



UNITED SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR 

Boston and Chicago 



TWO BEAUTIFUL 

GIFT BOOKS. «* 

The Morning Watch. 

A Book for the Quiet Hour. 

By BELLE M. BRAIN. 

7x41-2 inches, 414 pp., cloth, illustrated, gilt top, 
boxed $1.00. 

366 gems, each a page in length, from the heart and 
brain and hand of the saints of God in all ages. A 
book of daily readings, giving a month with an author. 
A month with Andrew Murray, F. B. Meyer, A. J. Gor- 
don, F. E. Clark, D. L. Moody, Henry Drummond, Theo. 
L. Cuyler, Spurgeon, Havergal, and others. This is one 
of the most interesting books of daily readings that has 
ever been compiled, as the authors speak from the hours 
of their richest and deepest experience. 

A Daily Message for Christian Endeavorers. 

By Mrs. Francis E. Clark. Introduction by Dr. Clark. 

7 x 4 1-2 inches, 373 pp., cloth, gilt top, illuminated cover 
design, 12 full-page illustrations. Boxed $1.00. 
This is a book for the Quiet Hour, the Prayer-meeting, 
and the Birthday. It is three books in one. There is a 
page for every day .in the year, filled with the choicest 
thoughts of the best writers, that will enrich and deepen 
the spiritual life of every reader. The collection is the 
result of years of careful reading, and most of the selec- 
tions will be found peculiarly appropriate for use in prayer- 
meetings. The index of subjects will enable one to find 
choice quotations on almost any topic. A new feature in 
books of this kind is the place for birthday entries, space 
being given under every day in the year. 

Price, $1.00 each, postpaid. 



United Society of Christian Endeavor, 

BOSTON AND CHICAGO. 



Dec 19 1901 



DEC 18 "1901 

1 COPY DEL TQCAT.EHV. 
DEC. 13 1901 

f£C. 23 iqni 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Nov. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724*779-2111 



